Highlights From Robert W. Crandall and Hal J. Singer’s

Broadband for America Online Chat

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Robert W. Crandall and Hal J. Singer, both experts in the economics of the telecommunications industry, hosted an online chat on the Broadband for America website. Crandall and Singer authored a new study which shows the massive investments made in mobile and wired Internet capacity by the major network providers have created hundreds of thousands of jobs over the past six years. The following are excerpted highlights from the online chat.

Partial Transcript Of The BfA Online Chat:

Question: Even in the current economic downturn, broadband investment has remained steady. Do you expect those private investments to accelerate as the economy improves and what is the overall future of private investment in broadband technologies?    

Robert W. Crandall: Yes, we expect broadband investment to accelerate as the economy recovers if regulators do not impose onerous new regulations.

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Question: Looks like distance learning was mentioned briefly in the report. What are your thoughts regarding the economic impact of distance learning via broadband?         

Hal J. Singer: Given the cost pressures in education, broadband could allow teachers to lecture more widely and to employ a broader tool kit. This is another really exciting area.

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Question: Can you talk about the economic impact of broadband use specifically in telemedicine and telehealth? The predicted growth for that industry from $900M in '07 to $6B in 2012 is amazing.

Hal J. Singer: We spend a little time there in our study. The benefits can be huge, both for medical records and for diagnostics.

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Question: Where do you anticipate the majority of new investment to occur? Expansion to areas not covered, or improvements of those that already exist?

Robert W. Crandall: The government is now deploying $7.2 billion to serve underserved and un-served areas. We would expect that private investment would also concentrate on improving the quality of service in areas that already have broadband.

You can read their full study here.

Broadband for America (BfA) is a growing coalition of over 200 members ranging from independent consumer advocacy groups, to content and application providers, to the companies which build and maintain the Internet. The complete BfA membership list is available at: http://www.broadbandforamerica.com/about/members  

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